Sheltie has TCC

I have a 10 year old male sheltie who was just diagnosed with TCC last week.  He was very sick twice last week that at one point thought I was going to have to put him down.  He bounced back the following days eating small amounts of food and urinating small amounts at a time.  His urine is cloudy, foul smelling and he usually only goes about 50cc a pop.

He was also started on the Piroxacam on Thursday of last week.  He seems to be tolerating the medication but his stool remains semi-formed and dark brown to black in colour.  At this point he does not appear to be in pain.

What I am wondering is how long have other's dogs survived after being diagnosed with TCC? 

I dont want to put my little guy through numerous procedures that will still leave the same end result.  I love my baby very much but I dont want him to suffer.

Any feedback would be appreciated.  Thank you.

My dog is 9 months post dx for tcc and has been cancer free since surgery and chemo. I assume that your dog's cancer is in the trigone area and is inoperable. To answer your question- based on what my vet told me and what I have observed on the cancer forums, most dogs stabilized on piroxicam seem to last about a year. Obviously some last less - some several years. At the end the tumor blocks either the urethra or ureters from the kidneys and they develop uremic poisoning. The symptoms are lethergy, inappetance, and vomiting.

If you are going to continue the piroxicam long term you will want to pursue some coating agent to counteract the harshness of the piroxicam as almost all eventually develop problems even if they start out ok. Most use either pepcid or omeprazole (prilosec). My oncologist has had my dog has been on both for 6 month now because they each have a different mechanism of action, so you could do both also.

Thank you for your reply. 

Yes his tumor is in the trigone area and it has already blocked the urethra canal. We are hoping that the antibiotic and the Piroxicam will reduce the swelling enough so that he can urinate even if just a little bit.  It seems like it is working as he is able to urinate 25 to 50cc of urine each time he goes out, which is better then not urinating at all like he was doing last week. 

Did your sheltie urinate more then this? 

I finally found a website that gave me perimeters on normal canine urinary output based on weight and it looks like he should be urinating about 500 cc/day.  We are no where close to that.  I guess I am just trying to find perimeters that tell me when the symptoms become more serious.  Again any help is truely appreciated.

The urine output does seem greatly reduced. My dog weighs 26 lbs, drinks 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 C per day and urinates 1 to 1 1/4 C. My dog has been on a holistic product called Bladder Strength manufactured by vetriscience laboratories that has helped her enormously as far as bladder emptying and control. Even though Rachael's tumors were removed, she still peed in small frequent amounts and had poor bladder control. The holistic vet that we consulted said that the cancer had pretty much messed up how her bladder functioned even though the tumor was gone. It took several weeks to see a difference and she is on 3 times the regular dosage on the label, but when she pees she is able to empty her bladder completely without dribbling. If you try this get the cat formula. Although the pills are chewable, our dog hates the tasty smoke flavor ones for dogs and they are pretty big to hide in something. Rachael weighs 26 lbs and takes 6 cat tabs (1/2 dog strength) a day. She doesn't really like the tasty salmon flavor of the cat formula either but its easier to give the smaller pills and the large dog ones are hard to cut into pieces.

 

On 10/1/2008 spanielmom wrote:

The urine output does seem greatly reduced. My dog weighs 26 lbs, drinks 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 C per day and urinates 1 to 1 1/4 C. My dog has been on a holistic product called Bladder Strength manufactured by vetriscience laboratories that has helped her enormously as far as bladder emptying and control. Even though Rachael's tumors were removed, she still peed in small frequent amounts and had poor bladder control. The holistic vet that we consulted said that the cancer had pretty much messed up how her bladder functioned even though the tumor was gone. It took several weeks to see a difference and she is on 3 times the regular dosage on the label, but when she pees she is able to empty her bladder completely without dribbling. If you try this get the cat formula. Although the pills are chewable, our dog hates the tasty smoke flavor ones for dogs and they are pretty big to hide in something. Rachael weighs 26 lbs and takes 6 cat tabs (1/2 dog strength) a day. She doesn't really like the tasty salmon flavor of the cat formula either but its easier to give the smaller pills and the large dog ones are hard to cut into pieces.

I have read several other blogs and many are working with a holistic vet.I think I will try to find one here.  Michigan State University or U of M should have somene.  Thanks for info and the name of the medication.  Did you find it on-line or at a special dog shop?

I got it from a holistic vet. I think your decision to look for a holistic vet is a good one. In my experience, they have sometimes used the ideas that I brought to them from my own research, but they also had many new ideas that I was unaware of. You can use the website www.tcvm.com to start your search. The Chi Institute is an educational source for vets that want to learn about holistic techniques and they have a directory for their members that you can use. Good luck.

Hi there, I am new to this board and I'm finding it very informative!  I have shed many tears reading over the messages posted!  My sympathies to all who have lost their best friend to this terrible disease.

I have a 14 yr old Yorkie recently diagnosed with Tcc.  After a few days of panic, shock and crying, I found this board!  My dog Gizmo weighs only 5 1/2 lbs.  I've read through many posts and I haven't found one with a dog as tiny as mine?  I am reading really good things about Graviola and Protocel etc...but I'm having a tough time knowing how much I would give him?

Gizmo strains a lot when he pee's, pee's very often and sometimes nothing comes out?  He has lots of blood in his urine.

My vet recommends Piroxicam Oral liquid 1.5 mg/mL and I give him .5 mL per day.  He has also been on Clavamox which doesn't seem to do anything??  So my vet switched him to Orbax 22.7mg/tablet and he gets 1/2 a tablet per day.  My vet also recommends Hills Prescription Diet n/d.  He has been on Hills Prescription Diet g/d for a very long time now.  I've read so many mixed reviews on dog food??  I chaned his diet and started him on Evo dry food but he doesn't like it.  So I switched to Origin and he's not a fan of that either?  My vet keeps telling me these high protein foods are going to hurt his kidneys???  I started giving him 1 tsp of low fat cottage cheese and 1/2 tsp flax seed oil, but I'm not sure that's an appropriate amount either???  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!

 Does anyone have any advise for me to help my little dog???

 Thank you

Angela

I can make several observations. I have used evo and my dog will eat it, but likes Primal much better. It's a raw food, but I microwave it to about medium for her. Others that have had eating problems have liked Taste of the Wild, but I have not used it. I use the flaxseed/ cottage cheese and think it really has made a difference, but your amount seems high and I would fear pancreatitus. I now give my dog 1 1/2 tsp in 2 Tb cottage cheese, but I started at 1/8 tsp and worked up to avoid pancreatitus. My dog weighs 26 lbs. If your dog does not have kidney problems now, I am doubtful that the low carb diet is really dangerous. My dog is 14 and I do use a 25% protein food rather than higher because of her age to be conservative. I guess you have to consider which disease you are willing to take the chance will kill her - kidney failure or cancer.